New coach Mike Pettine says Browns in position to win

About 10 minutes into his first news conference Thursday as Browns head coach, Mike Pettine said friends asked him why he didnít wait until next year, when more jobs would open up.
The Browns, the first team to fire their head coach after 2013, were the last team to hire a replacement.
Pettine said there is no guarantee he would get an opportunity in 2015. He said his lifelong goal was to be an NFL head coach. And he also said:
ďI looked at the situation as when you put all of the factors together this franchise is in position, given the right leadership, to win.Ē
It was a bold statement to make about a team that along with the Detroit Lions has the worst record in the NFL (77-163) since 1999. The Browns havenít won a playoff game since 1994. They finished 4-12 in 2013, Rob Chudzinskiís only season as head coach. Four head coaches over a span of six seasons never won more than five games in a single year.
Pettine is the seventh full-time head coach since 1999 and the fourth of five to move from a coordinatorís role to head coach.
Pettine was defensive coordinator of the Jets from 2009 to 2012 and defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in 2013.
Romeo Crennel was defensive coordinator of the Patriots before being named Browns head coach in 2005. He was 24-40.
Pat Shurmur, offensive coordinator of the Rams before the Browns hired him, was 9-23 in two seasons. Chudzinski was offensive coordinator of the Panthers for two years before the Browns hired him.
Pettine was not speaking about any of the former Browns coaches, but he has a theory about why coordinators sometimes fail as head coaches, and he is confident he wonít make the same mistakes.
ďI think coordinators that step up to be head coaches, the common mistakes that they made is staying in their comfort zone,Ē Pettine said. ďIím not going to spend an inordinate amount of time in the defensive room. I think I can use my defensive expertise to help our offense. I think I can do that to help our special teams. I think thatís important.
ďI think too many times on NFL staffs, offensive coaches donít truly know how defenses work,Ē Pettine said. ďDefensive coaches donít truly know how offenses work, and thatís where you fall short. Thereís truly not enough sharing of information back and forth and you really end up as offense, defense and special teams as three independent subcontractors. I think youíre doing yourself a disservice that way and I feel thatís my responsibility as the head coach to be able to be a bridge for information to be able to flow back and forth.Ē
Pettine did not tip his hand about what coaches he might hire. Bills linebacker coach Jim OíNeil has been mentioned as a candidate for defensive coordinator. Fired Texans head coach Gary Kubiak could be a candidate for offensive coordinator.
ďA lot of coaches hire people that they are friends with or go way back with, and sometimes those relationships are great and for those reasons they work well together,Ē Pettine said. ďIím not insecure enough that that is an issue for me.
ďWhen you hire a great coach and do a background on a coach and you find he has great character and is passionate and is all about winning. When you put coaches in a room like that theyíre going to bond. I think the staff will have those (coaches) that Iíve had connections with, but Iím not looking for someone to go to lunch with. Itís going to be all about winning.Ē
Pettine ran a 3-4 hybrid defense in Buffalo, which is what 2013 defensive coordinator Ray Horton ran for the Browns. The Browns were a West Coast offense under Shurmur and vertical offense under 2013 offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Pettine isnít ready to label the 2014 Browns.
ďJust looking from a scheme standpoint, Iím not one to speak on what weíll be running because thatís going to be based on an evaluation of the roster,Ē Pettine said. ďIíve always been of the mindset that you never fit your players to your system. You fit your system to your players.
ďOnce we hit the ground running and get the staff hired, the first task will be to evaluate the roster from top to bottom and see what we have here, what we do well, maybe what holes we need to fill.Ē
Pettine said he plans to call the defensive plays in 2014 and then turn the duty over to his defensive coordinator in 2015.